On Media

BuzzFeed hires NBC's Ashley McCollum

By DYLAN BYERS

02/09/2012 08:50 PM EST

Following Ben Smith's appointment as Editor in Chief and a $15.5 million round of fundraising, BuzzFeed has been on an editorial hiring spree. In the last month alone it's nabbed Doree Shafrir from Rolling Stone, Matt Buchanan from Gawker Media's Gizmodo, Rosie Gray from The Village Voice... the list goes on.

Tomorrow, BuzzFeed will announce its first big hire on the communications side: Ashley McCollum, coordinator at NBC News Communications, will now become BuzzFeed's press manager.

"I'm thrilled she accepted the job, and she's totally perfect for it," Smith told me, confirming the news. "She has deep roots in television at a great network, but she's also fluent and experienced the social media where BuzzFeed lives."

McCollum will work with both Smith and BuzzFeed communications director Alice Suh, but also with BuzzFeed editors and reporters to develop what Smith called "a true feel for news and a vision for the direction of the enterprise."

NBC News has yet to announce a replacement, but communications director Erika Masonhall said she "couldn't be more thrilled" for McCollum.

For more information on the reinvented BuzzFeed that all the kids are talking about, read David Carr's profile in the New York Times.